Dementia Effects

Dementia is a debilitating mental illness that requires costly medical care. Those who suffer this condition can find it difficult or even impossible to perform basic living tasks such as feeding, dressing or cleaning after themselves; therefore care must be provided to them at all times. As one can imagine, the story is no different behind bars. Because the inmate- elderly population has grown exponentially dating back to the 1970’s when laws favored incarceration over rehabilitation, the average medical care cost for the inmates that suffer from dementia is making a detrimental impact on the federal annual health care costs in the present.
According to The New York Times, the annual average health care cost per prisoner is roughly $5,500,